natural

The Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility in Boulder City that President Obama visited Wednesday is certainly impressive. With nearly 1 million solar panels, the nation’s largest operating solar facility can provide power for about 17,000 homes without producing any harmful emissions or sending any money out of state for dirty coal or foreign oil.

The study of climate change through Earth history has produced a wealth of information on the operation of the ocean-atmosphere system during climate transitions as well as the feedbacks that impact the magnitude and rate of climate change on the planet. A public lecture on Thursday at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences will address some of what has been found.

CARSON CITY – A new report questions the value of tax incentives and regulations approved by many states around the country, including Nevada, to create “green jobs,” noting that subsidies used for such programs can take away revenue for other needs such as public education.

The Nevada State Demographer’s Office, located at the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business, has released its 2011 population estimates. The state gained an estimated 17,152 people from July 2010 to July 2011, an estimated increase of 0.6 percent, about equivalent to the increase of 0.7 percent the prior year. Two years ago, the state lost 27,677 people, a decrease of about 1.0 percent.

CARSON CITY – A regulation requiring thousands of home-based businesses to pay a $200 annual fee won approval today from a legislative panel.

Secretary of State Ross Miller has been trying to get the regulation approved for several months, but has seen the regulation stymied by strong opposition from some Nevada residents and Republican lawmakers who argued the regulation exceeded his authority.

New Lake Tahoe license plates are appearing on the vehicle fleets of major ski resorts and businesses in the Tahoe Basin, as support for the Tahoe plate program in California and Nevada continues this winter.

Heavenly Ski Resort helped launch the program in 1996 and has 140 vehicles plated for Tahoe. Northstar Resort, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, and Tahoe Dave’s Skis and Boards have ordered new Tahoe plates.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency will conduct travel surveys with visitors and residents at several recreational and commercial locations throughout the Basin beginning this Friday, February 24. The interviewing, to be carried out by a professional survey research company, is scheduled to take place through Sunday, March 4. Surveyors will wear badges while patrolling survey sites. Results from the Travel Mode Survey will be used to track the success of and help plan multi-modal travel options around Lake Tahoe.

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said today he is not optimistic that Congress will make any substantive progress on a balanced budget or deficit reduction this year given the focus on the presidential election.

But Amodei, in town on a brief recess, said he is hopeful that progress can be made on Nevada-related public lands bills he is sponsoring as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Recognized for stewardship and care taken in the building and construction of developments around Lake Tahoe, the 22nd annual Best in the Basin awards were announced Tuesday by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The TRPA, which sets policy for development around Lake Tahoe, will recognize the winners, listed below, during the 2011 Best in the Basin awards presentation during the meeting of its Governing Board on Wednesday, Feb. 22 in Stateline. Go here for the agenda.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency employee Jeff Cowen was honored as the recipient of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber and Resort Association’s Employee of the Year Award for his outstanding work as TRPA’s Community Liaison.

“I was shocked and truly honored to receive this recognition,” Cowen said about the award. “I am lucky in my job because I get to inform the community about all the great work being done by TRPA staff. I know I share this award with them,” he said.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency received a positive ruling in the opening stages of the lawsuit challenging the Homewood Mountain Ski Area Master Plan that was filed by the Sierra Club and the Friends of the West Shore, a Lake Tahoe environmental group.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s mining industry is stepping up to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s challenge asking businesses and all economic partners to help create 50,000 jobs over the next three years.

Extreme snow sports legend and Transformers film wingsuit stuntman JT Holmes has finished shooting promotional TV spots for the Tahoe Fund’s Plate for Powder program, which gives purchasers of California and Nevada

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Executive Director, Joanne S. Marchetta, will host a “fireside chat” at Lake Tahoe Community College on Wednesday, February 8 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. on “21st Century Environmentalism and the Regional Plan Update.”

Adele's is a Carson City landmark. This long-time restaurant — located in one of the oldest homes in town — attracts discriminating diners with its classical ambiance and reputation of its renown chef Charlie Abowd.

But now the restaurant is doing something new that will likely shake things up in Carson City early in the morning. They are serving breakfast.

The Academy Award nominated film "The Descendants," now playing at the Fandango Galaxy movie house in Carson City, is a hard-eyed romantic comedy with an ensemble cast headed by George Clooney, the only name star aboard.
Doesn't matter, this is a fine cast from Clooney as Matt King to Judy Greer as Julie Speer, wife of a real estate salesman who … but let's let that wait.
The film opens with a scene of an attractive woman riding a boat. She's laughing in the wind. This is before an of the opening credits. No explanation given or needed.

President Barack Obama visited Las Vegas today on a swing through the West, talking up energy development to create jobs and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

In comments delivered at the United Parcel Service hub on East Arby Lane, President Obama said development of natural gas reserves would serve both these purposes.

The president jogged out to loud, enthused cheers from a clearly friendly crowd.

Pete Livermore has announced he will be running for a second term representing Assembly District 40, which encompasses most of Carson City.

Livermore served on the Carson City Board of Supervisors until he was elected to the Assembly in 2010, edging out fellow supervisor Robin Williamson.

The following is the text of a press release sent out by Livermore today:

The snow forecast to hit the Lake Tahoe region during the next few days is expected to give the Tahoe Fund's Plate for Powder program a boost along with Sierra ski resorts and businesses. Drivers who purchase a California or Nevada Tahoe vehicle license plate will receive two free ski lift or Nordic tickets to the resort of their choice. New Tahoe plates cost $50 in California and $61 in Nevada.

CARSON CITY – Nevada ranked 30^th among the states in how it protects animals in 2011, scoring only 25 points out of a possible 66, The Humane Society of the United States said in a national report released today.

Ranking first with 46 points was California, followed by New Jersey and Oregon with 40 points. In last place was South Dakota with eight points, with Idaho second to last with nine points.

The year of 2011 was anything but quiet for the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Pesky bears, a roaming gray wolf, significant poaching arrests, tsunami relief work and dramatic wildlife rescues were among the stories that captured the public’s attention.
DFG also welcomed new Director Charlton H. Bonham, who was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in August.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife, along with state and federal agencies, will jointly host a stakeholder update and engagement session on issues related to the conservation and management of Sage-grouse.  
The meeting will be held January 18 at 2 p.m. in Carson City at the Nevada Legislative Building at 401 South Carson Street in room CC1214.
The meeting will be linked via video conference to Elko at Great Basin College located at 1500 College Parkway, High Tech Center, Room 121 and to Las Vegas at the Grant Sawyer Building on 555 East Washington Avenue, Room 4412E.

The Homewood Mountain Resort project, which cleared the strictest of environmental hurdles at Lake Tahoe, is now being sued by a consortium of groups including the Sierra Club who, among other things, wish to stop promised environmental improvements, job creation and economic revitalization to the ailing west shore Sierra community.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which oversees development and environmental protection at Lake Tahoe, was told it was being sued on Thursday because of its recent approval of the Homewood Mountain Resort Ski Area Master Plan project.
EarthJustice, on behalf of the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, lists both TRPA and Placer County as defendants in the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Eastern California. Absent from the suit is the League to Save Lake Tahoe, which implied that it likely wouldn't sue when the project was unanimously approved last month by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's Governing Board.

Those of us who have spent most of our adult life on ski and snowboard slopes know how important it is to follow the rules on the slopes. From our earliest snow days we have followed the Skiers Responsibility Code, simple rules that make fun on the trail safer. If you don't know the Code, check it out next time you're at a mountain resort.

The film "The Darkest Hour," flickering at the Fandango Galaxy in Carson City and elsewhere, is a desperate stab at making a movie. It had little intelligence, a poor cast and a lot of scientific hokum that apparently depends on audiences being to poorly educated to know when the science is all goofy.

Northstar California did up things well Tuesday (name change, used to be "at-Tahoe") by officially opening its new multimillion dollar Zephyr lodge at the top of Zephyr lift and a new chairlift, the Promised Land Express. The new quad chair services two new trails. This completes a spending program of $30 million on upgrades, trails and support activities at the Lake Tahoe resort.

Two of Lake Tahoe's most popular ski and snowboarding icons, Daron Rahlves and Jeremy Jones, have finished shooting public service ads this week for the nonprofit Tahoe Fund's Plate for Powder program (photos).

Founded in 1989, the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation has dedicated itself to supporting excellence in education in South Lake Tahoe, California.

We are proud to offer our first
Lake Tahoe Digital Photo Institute
in the Summer of 2012
June 29, 2012 - July 1, 2012

Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation, in collaboration with the extraordinary facilities of South Tahoe High School, would like to welcome you to beautiful South Lake Tahoe and the home of the Digital Photography Institute (DPI).

Beginning today the Reno-Tahoe International Airport will be undergoing $40 million in renovations, including a ticket lobby with a Lake Tahoe theme. The Gateway Project, which will bring about 275 jobs now through April 2013, features an upgrade to the baggage claim area, creating a first floor single security checkpoint, plus new retail and places to eat.

UPDATED 8:35AM: California State Parks is investigating vandalism that happened over the weekend on Washoe Meadows State Park land near the Lake Tahoe Golf Course. Electronic equipment and river monitoring devices were damaged or destroyed. Two logs were found to have graffiti sprayed on them, saying "Stop Golf" and "Save the Park."